Weird Routes

[dvferyance]

WI-134 why does it even exist?

[skluth]

WI-134 why does it even exist?

It still makes more sense than WI 127. Blame the highway mileage cap.

[Max Rockatansky]

Built nowhere to plan but somehow one of the best examples of how to sign a two lane highway in California on route:

https://www.gribblenation.org/2020/12/california-state-route-281.html?m=1

[MATraveler128]

MA 127 and its fishhook routing on Cape Ann. It nearly intersects with itself.

[noelbotevera]

I-295's extension to Pennsylvania comes across as weird. I know it was the most direct route during the I-95 reroute, but it still looks weird. Especially because it's signed east west on the PA side.

It's also still north - south...but I guess it'd be less confusing than being on I-295 north in NJ and suddenly on I-295 south in PA. Maybe the solution is an east - west section between PA and US 1.

In the same area is US 13 - parallels I-95 up until I-476, takes a meandering route through West Philadelphia and ends up having trolley tracks twice (Baltimore Avenue and Girard Avenue), multiplexes with US 1 only to break away from it and parallel I-95 again, and then end at US 1 despite having met it in Philly. This should really be chopped up into several state routes, but PA has it because...why not?

[SkyPesos]

I-295's extension to Pennsylvania comes across as weird. I know it was the most direct route during the I-95 reroute, but it still looks weird. Especially because it's signed east west on the PA side.

On a similar note, why is I-278 signed E-W instead of N-S north(/east) of the Verrazano Narrows Bridge??

[Kulerage]

NC 5 came to mind pretty quickly due to its proximity to where I live. It's short and would've made way more sense as a business loop of NC 211, but it would at least be excusable if it's southern terminus was at US 1-15-501. Instead they extend it past this, have it turn north for no reason and then it just ends at some random side road.

[dvferyance]

WI-134 why does it even exist?

It still makes more sense than WI 127. Blame the highway mileage cap.

WI-127 exist to serve the Portage Correctional Facility. I have no idea why WI-134 still exist. In the 70's and 80's WisDOT basically got rid of all the short spurs to nothing however for whatever reason but WI-134 stayed.

[Mapmikey]

NC 5 came to mind pretty quickly due to its proximity to where I live. It's short and would've made way more sense as a business loop of NC 211, but it would at least be excusable if it's southern terminus was at US 1-15-501. Instead they extend it past this, have it turn north for no reason and then it just ends at some random side road.

NC 5's routing east of US 1 is a vestige of the original NC 701 which did have a purpose - http://www.vahighways.com/ncannex/route-log/nc701.html

I have no idea why NC 5 was extended across US 1 to Pinehurst to replace NC 211's original routing.

[SEWIGuy]

WI-134 why does it even exist?

It still makes more sense than WI 127. Blame the highway mileage cap.

WI-127 exist to serve the Portage Correctional Facility. I have no idea why WI-134 still exist. In the 70's and 80's WisDOT basically got rid of all the short spurs to nothing however for whatever reason but WI-134 stayed.

WI-134 originally existed because it connected Cambridge to the closet train depot in London.  It likely exists now because there really hasn't been much reason to change it.  It's so short it doesn't give a lot of mileage relief and doesn't cost a lot to maintain.  If you have ever driven it, you would see that he hasn't had a major upgrade in decades.

[CoolAngrybirdsrio4]

I have found Michigan Route 188's routing to be weird because it ends at a VFW from Eaton Rapids instead of another signed route or intersection.

[Rothman]

I have found Michigan Route 188's routing to be weird because it ends at a VFW from Eaton Rapids instead of another signed route or intersection.

Eh, lots of state routes do this, I think.  Look at NY 335.

[US 89]

I have found Michigan Route 188's routing to be weird because it ends at a VFW from Eaton Rapids instead of another signed route or intersection.

Eh, lots of state routes do this, I think.  Look at NY 335.

I think what he was getting at was that M-188 doesn't even end at an intersection with another road. NY 335 ends at an intersection with a street that also happens to be an unsigned reference route.

That said, I do know of a few state routes that just end at a random place not at any sort of intersection and continue as county roads. Utah 22 near Antimony and Utah 211 near Canyonlands NP come to mind.

[Rothman]

I have found Michigan Route 188's routing to be weird because it ends at a VFW from Eaton Rapids instead of another signed route or intersection.

Eh, lots of state routes do this, I think.  Look at NY 335.

I think what he was getting at was that M-188 doesn't even end at an intersection with another road. NY 335 ends at an intersection with a street that also happens to be an unsigned reference route.

That said, I do know of a few state routes that just end at a random place not at any sort of intersection and continue as county roads. Utah 22 near Antimony and Utah 211 near Canyonlands NP come to mind.

Oh, fine.  NY 421.

And all sorts of VA state routes that just provide access to colleges, prisons and other institutions and yes, some of them are signed.

[GaryV]

I have found Michigan Route 188's routing to be weird because it ends at a VFW from Eaton Rapids instead of another signed route or intersection.

Eh, lots of state routes do this, I think.  Look at NY 335.

I think what he was getting at was that M-188 doesn't even end at an intersection with another road. NY 335 ends at an intersection with a street that also happens to be an unsigned reference route.

That said, I do know of a few state routes that just end at a random place not at any sort of intersection and continue as county roads. Utah 22 near Antimony and Utah 211 near Canyonlands NP come to mind.

M-93 ends at the former entrance to Hartwick Pines State Park.

[Max Rockatansky]

AZ 99 has a northern terminus as the County Route like equivalent of BIA 15 whereas the southern end is at Forest Route 34.  Forest Route 34 is actually pretty handy in terms of reaching AZ 260 and the Mogollon Rim if you find yourself in a very specific place to take advantage of driving it. 

[MATraveler128]

RI 238 in Newport. What's the point of that one? It's way too short and doesn't connect anywhere of note and I don't see why it needs to exist.

[Rothman]

I have found Michigan Route 188's routing to be weird because it ends at a VFW from Eaton Rapids instead of another signed route or intersection.

Eh, lots of state routes do this, I think.  Look at NY 335.

I think what he was getting at was that M-188 doesn't even end at an intersection with another road. NY 335 ends at an intersection with a street that also happens to be an unsigned reference route.

That said, I do know of a few state routes that just end at a random place not at any sort of intersection and continue as county roads. Utah 22 near Antimony and Utah 211 near Canyonlands NP come to mind.

M-93 ends at the former entrance to Hartwick Pines State Park.

That one is indeed weird.

[Flint1979]

I have found Michigan Route 188's routing to be weird because it ends at a VFW from Eaton Rapids instead of another signed route or intersection.

Eh, lots of state routes do this, I think.  Look at NY 335.

I think what he was getting at was that M-188 doesn't even end at an intersection with another road. NY 335 ends at an intersection with a street that also happens to be an unsigned reference route.

That said, I do know of a few state routes that just end at a random place not at any sort of intersection and continue as county roads. Utah 22 near Antimony and Utah 211 near Canyonlands NP come to mind.

M-93 ends at the former entrance to Hartwick Pines State Park.

It ends about a mile past the main entrance to the state park. I don't think it's that weird of a route, it connects two locations.

[Flint1979]

RI 238 in Newport. What's the point of that one? It's way too short and doesn't connect anywhere of note and I don't see why it needs to exist.

Looks like it's a spur from RI-138 providing access to Goat Island and Newport.

[Occidental Tourist]

Broken record here because I've mentioned this in a previous thread: California 18 is technically an east-west route with its "western"  end (State mile 0) located 45 miles southeast of its "eastern"  end. It's also much faster and shorter to take other routes from one end of 18 to the other in lieu of taking 18 itself.  Finally, its cardinal directions change three times. Thus if you start at the technical "western"  end in the San Bernardino foothills and follow it to its "eastern" end in the Antelope Valley, its posted cardinal direction start with east, then change to north, then change to west.

Note that California measures from Mile 0 in the west for highways that are considered to run west to east and Mile 0 in the south for highways that are considered to run south to north.  There are two tallies kept, total statewide mileage of a highway and postmile mileage within a county.  Postmile signing runs to the county line and resets to 0 even though the highway does not end at the county line. 18's statewide mileage ends 4 miles west of the Los Angeles/San Bernardino County line. 18 starts at San Bernardino County postmile 6 instead of postmile 0 because of an unbuilt portion of the route through San Bernardino that would have had the actual of the route at I-10 instead of its current start at California 210.



Edit: Added a map for context and an explanation of how California measures highway mileage.

[hbelkins]

And all sorts of VA state routes that just provide access to colleges, prisons and other institutions and yes, some of them are signed.

What's weird about Virginia that some of those state parks are accessed from US and state primary routes via a state secondary route, and when you get to the park, the routes are marked as primaries.

Discovered this for myself when I drove by Natural Tunnel State Park in southwestern Virginia a couple of years ago. The road leading to the park entrance is a secondary route (it's the old alignment of US 23/58/421) but the road leading into the park itself is a primary.

[Kulerage]

NC 5 came to mind pretty quickly due to its proximity to where I live. It's short and would've made way more sense as a business loop of NC 211, but it would at least be excusable if it's southern terminus was at US 1-15-501. Instead they extend it past this, have it turn north for no reason and then it just ends at some random side road.

NC 5's routing east of US 1 is a vestige of the original NC 701 which did have a purpose - http://www.vahighways.com/ncannex/route-log/nc701.html

I have no idea why NC 5 was extended across US 1 to Pinehurst to replace NC 211's original routing.

Alright, that's cool.

Other NC highways with weird routings include NC 53 (The endpoint is on a half ring-road around Jacksonville that causes the highway to randomly invert for its final stretch. If this road is finished, it would make way more sense as a separate designation), 210 (Has an unusual C shape as a result of several extensions. My guess is they were bored when dealing with this highway) and 801 (Also Had some weird extensions that resulted in the highway looking like a J)

[Mark68]

Broken record here because I’ve mentioned this in a previous thread: California 18 is technically an east-west route with its “western” end (State mile 0) located 45 miles southeast of its “eastern” end. It’s also much faster and shorter to take other routes from one end of 18 to the other in lieu of taking 18 itself.  Finally, its cardinal directions change three times. Thus if you start at the technical “western” end in the San Bernardino foothills and follow it to its "eastern" end in the Antelope Valley, its posted cardinal direction start with east, then change to north, then change to west.

Note that California measures from Mile 0 in the west for highways that are considered to run west to east and Mile 0 in the south for highways that are considered to run south to north.  There are two tallies kept, total statewide mileage of a highway and postmile mileage within a county.  Postmile signing runs to the county line and resets to 0 even though the highway does not end at the county line. 18's statewide mileage ends 4 miles west of the Los Angeles/San Bernardino County line. 18 starts at San Bernardino County postmile 6 instead of postmile 0 because of an unbuilt portion of the route through San Bernardino that would have had the actual of the route at I-10 instead of its current start at California 210.



Edit: Added a map for context and an explanation of how California measures highway mileage.

I wonder...

Even though 18 & 247 don't technically meet in Lucerne Valley, maybe the whole issue with cardinal directions with CA 18 (and CA 247, to a lesser extent) could have been solved by having CA 18 go north from Lucerne Valley to Barstow (thus making it a N/S route) and CA 247 go west to meet with CA 138 (making it an E/W route).

CA 18: Barstow/Lucerne Valley/Big Bear/Lake Arrowhead/San Bernardino
CA 247: Adelanto/Victorville/Apple Valley/Lucerne Valley/Yucca Valley

[Max Rockatansky]

That CA 18-CA 247 gap in Lucerne Valley shows up on the Caltrans Postmile Tool was Route 247.  What is really weird is that the Lucerne Valley Gap contains normal Postmiles and not an "S"  suffix.  So in effect if you really want to "clinch"  CA 247 you need to jog over to CA 18 and back.

Also, CA 38 does the whole half moon alignment thing that CA 18 does on a smaller scale.